The "tired" Republican Congress members

Deb at "You Betcha I'm a Proud Army Mom" (aka Yankee Mom) reacts to an AP story on the effort by GOP senators to influence war strategy that includes the following sentence: "But many Republicans, most of whom will face voters next year, say they are tired of the war, which is in its fifth year and has killed more than 3,600 troops."

The title of Deb's post, appropriately enough, is "WTF!!!" Her response is:

"They’re tired of the war??? TIRED???!!!

Tell that to the 20 year old packing 80 lbs of gear in 130 degree heat, walking miles patrolling the streets to keep them safe from the murderous, head sawing off while still alive, blow ‘em up, hate America, wastes of oxygen infesting the Middle East."

Deb continues with more illustrations.

Unfortunately, one of my senators - Norm Coleman - seems to be one of the Republicans who is most tired of the war. Here is the letter I wrote to him on Friday:

"Dear Senator Coleman,

I just read your boilerplate response to my recent email message to you in which I asked you to not 'go wobbly' in the war in Iraq. To my dismay, and in contradiction to your letter in which you state: 'I do not believe politicians should set troop levels,' yesterday you voted to do exactly that.

There will be a vote coming soon in the Senate in which the Democrats will try to set a deadline for troop withdrawal. This, of course, is not within the responsibilities of the Congress. Should you decide to vote for this legislation and it somehow comes to pass, you, sir, will be remembered through history as one of those most responsible for the deaths of perhaps millions. You have heard the warnings of Ryan Crocker and others. I do not need to go into further detail.

You will not remember me, Senator Coleman, but in October 2004 I spoke to you and thanked you for your support of the military. I explained that my son was in Iraq, and you gave me a hug and said: 'God bless your son.'

May God bless you and guide you in this extremely important time in our country's history."

At this critical time for our country, we cannot give in to weariness - nor allow the discouragement of politicians over the sacrifice of someone else's sons and daughters to snatch defeat from the reach of victory. The time between now and the September report by General Petraeus is "crunch time." It's all hands on deck...

Victor Davis Hanson

One of the most clear writers on the war in Iraq is Victor Davis Hanson, a farmer, classicist, and professor of history. I've often wanted to print out his articles and post them on my cubicle wall - sort of like Martin Luther and his 95 theses that were nailed to the wall.

This is the point from Hanson's article: "The New York Times surrenders" yesterday that should be memorized and then repeated when someone claims this is "Bush's war":

"Supporters of the war included 70 percent of the American public in April 2003; the majority of NATO members; a coalition with more participants than the United Nations alliance had in the Korean War; and a host of politicians and pundits as diverse as Joe Biden, William F. Buckley, Wesley Clark, Hillary Clinton, Francis Fukuyama, Kenneth Pollack, Harry Reid, Andrew Sullivan, Thomas Friedman, and George Will."

As they say, read it all.

A journey through Hell

I've been monitoring news of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division since they left from Fort Riley, Kansas in February. So far, five have died, nineteen have been wounded - including such serious injuries as a lost hand, a lost arm, a lost eye, and one soldier has been shot in the face.

David Finkel, a Washington Post reporter, accompanied the unit on an excruciating four mile journey to the memorial service of Sgt. William Crow Jr. Here is the report filed by Finkel in yesterday's Washington Post.

As the American public and our politicians forget that we are involved in a war with a brutal enemy the men of the 2nd Battalion fight for their lives and the lives of the Iraqis they are trying to save. May God protect them and bring comfort to their families. And may God protect one brave reporter, too.

Update: It appears that something happened to the ability to add a title in Blogger right now. Will do that when able.

Still more sad news from Fort Riley

Sgt. William W. Crow Jr., 28, of Grandview Plaza, Kan., died when the vehicle he was in struck a improvised explosive device on June 28. Crow was an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. This was his third deployment.

May he rest in peace in the loving arms of his Creator.

Their sacrifice is not in vain

Sadly, there are two more deaths to report in the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas.

Army Pfc. Cameron K. Payne, 22, of Corona, Calif., died June 11 in Balad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad. (No photo is available.)

Pfc. Andre Craig Jr., 24, died of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device June 25 in Baghdad, Iraq. He entered the Army in October, 2005 and began serving with the 1st Inf. Div. in March, 2006. This was his first deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

Please say a prayer of thanksgiving for their service and one for comfort for their families.

Tired of the war?

Are you getting a little cranky about having to hear about the loss of someone else's sons and daughters in the war in Iraq? Do you think that the threat of al Qaeda is overblown and that if we leave Iraq, al Qaeda's grievances against us will be over? Do you think that the U.S. should just "let 'em fight it out" in Iraq?

Are you just plain tired of the war?

Well, tough.

Read this.

Michael Yon is in Iraq, reporting from the field. Here is an excerpt:

"I told the Iraqi commander, Captain Baker, that it was important that Americans see this; he took me around the graves and showed more than I wanted to see. He said the people had been murdered by al Qaeda. I made video of him speaking, and of the horrible scene. The heat and stench were crushingly oppressive and broken only by the sounds of shovels as Iraqi soldiers kept digging."

It gets worse. This caption is below one of the photos in Yon's post:

"Soldiers from 5th IA said al Qaeda had cut the heads off the children. Had al Qaeda murdered the children in front of their parents? Maybe it had been the other way around: maybe they had murdered the parents in front of the children. Maybe they had forced the father to dig the graves of his children."

There are currently 108 links to Michael Yon's post. You will probably not read about such things in the New York Times or the Washington Post. However, as Yon writes in the first excerpt, it's important that Americans see this.

And after they understand the evil that the Iraqi people face, how could they ever suggest that we just walk away?